ROTTEN APPLE, NOT SO ROTTEN AFTER ALL.
Just because he’s a bad guy, doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy.
Gru is the world’s top super villain.....or was.
The world is filling up with younger, smarter, and more tech savvy super villains. Gru hatches a plan to get back to number 1 status, and make his mother proud. He’s going to steal the moon. But when the plan includes adopting 3 super-cute orphaned girls, Gru discovers that just being evil doesn’t cut it, and has to change his plans much more than expected.
This film is endearing, funny and colourful. In other words just another formulaic Universal studios kids animation, needlessly converted to 3D so the cinema’s can earn an extra buck.
Despite the disappointingly predictable plot ‘Despicable Me’ has a wicked soundtrack created by hip-hop artist Pharrell Williams, which give the film edge and a tad more depth.
Interestingly, the kids in the cinema weren’t the only ones laughing hysterically at the slapstick antics of the rubbery yellow minions and the ridiculous weaponised squid shooters, fart guns and fluffy unicorns. The imagery and action rather than the script make this movie hilarious. And even though you can see it coming, there are a number of moments that will bring a tear to your eye.
The producer Chris Meledandri, operating for the first time under Illumination Entertainment, founded by Meledandri in 2007, when asked what influenced the film says “There is without question an element of kind of a 'Bond' like foundation from which it springs. Gru is probably closer, and not in a literal way, but to an old Bond style villain than any other sort of cinematic villain. Gru was about his physicality and that an influence in Chris [Renaud] and Pierre's depiction of how he moved and how physical he was as a character came from some Peter Sellers reference. They watched a lot of Peter Sellers and a lot of Rowan Atkinson”
Steve Carrel smoothly voices Gru the vaguely European super villain, which is no surprise, given the range of comic characters he has played in the past. Julie Andrews as the voice of Gru’s evil mother is a surprise as is that of Russel Brand who plays Dr Nefario. This character would be a change of scene for Brand as most roles of his are young eccentric and hard to ignore. The Dr Nefario character is not central to the story and only contributes to a few jokes. The charming surprise was that a couple of small characters were voiced by Jack McBrayer from 30Rock and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, who seems to be popping up all over the place in cameos.
‘Despicable Me’ tries to be a darkly humorous film and wins a few times. It has great Looney Tunes slap-stick quality which appeals to all ages, and has a heart warming story of finding family and home. Right from the start, the minions are endearing and quirky, and you just want the bad guy to win. This film is not groundbreaking in terms of story line, but is still worth a look.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Venue: The big screen at Hoyts Melbourne Central. The 3D glasses recycle station was placed very inconveiniently behind a wacking great pole.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
